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PRO BASKETBALL; Marbury And Feick Help Win Nail-Biter

For nearly three quarters of play, the story at Continental Arena tonight revolved around Jamie Feick. The league's fifth-leading rebounder, Feick had been all but benched in the Nets' loss to the Knicks on Wednesday. So after being inserted into the starting lineup for tonight's game against the Detroit Pistons, the 6-foot-8-inch center hit the backboards with a vengeance, grabbing 19 rebounds in the first half alone.

The dominance of Feick, who played only 8 minutes against the Knicks, had helped the Nets build a 14-point halftime lead that increased to 17 late in the third quarter. But just as the Nets were penciling in their 16th victory of the season, the Pistons rudely interrupted their cruise with an abrupt 17-4 run over the final three minutes of the period. The inexplicable charge placed Feick's resurgence on the periphery and turned an uncompetitive contest into a thriller.

After a seesaw fourth period in which there were 12 lead changes and 7 ties, the outcome once again came down to the final minutes for the Nets. Having lost three consecutive close games, all of which were scarred by their lack of execution down the stretch, the Nets were once again being tested. And this time they passed.

Behind an outstanding fourth quarter by Stephon Marbury, the Nets outlasted the Pistons, 122-120, before a crowd of 15,222. Marbury scored 12 of his game-high 34 points in the final 4 minutes 14 seconds and handed out 5 of his season-best 15 assists in the final period.

''Stephon was just a great player out there making great plays,'' said Detroit Coach Alvin Gentry, whose team lost for just the third time in its last 12 games in dropping to 21-17. With Keith Van Horn (28 points) on the bench after fouling out with 2:44 remaining, Marbury scored three of the Nets' last four baskets, including a 6-foot running jumper that put them ahead by 121-118 with 19.6 seconds left and became the game winner.

''I didn't feel like I had to take over,'' said Marbury, who made 12 of his last 17 shots. ''It's just that guys were hitting me on the go and I got great looks. Tonight was probably my best shooting night in a while.''

Yet Marbury was not the only star on the court, and so the Pistons, behind the threesome of Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner, were within sight of winning at the end. After Marbury's final basket, Hill, who scored 7 points in Detroit's three-minute third-quarter comeback, drove baseline for a dunk that cut the Nets' lead to 1 point with 10.2 seconds left.

The Nets called a timeout and set up to inbound the ball from midcourt. But as has become their custom, they had trouble. With Lindsey Hunter grabbing and holding Marbury, the Nets were forced to call two timeouts before finally inbounding the ball to Johnny Newman.

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Newman, an 81.8 percent foul shooter, made 1 of 2 free throws, and then the Pistons prepared to answer with 9.4 seconds left on the clock. Michael Curry inbounded the ball to Stackhouse, who scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, but the Nets forced him to pass from the top of the key to Hunter.

Desperately trying to avoid giving up the 3-pointer, Marbury hounded Hunter and forced a contested 16-footer with 3 seconds remaining. A mad scramble for the carom ensued, and fittingly Feick ended up with the game's last rebound. It was Feick's career-high 25th rebound of the game, one fewer than the Nets' franchise record for a regulation contest and two fewer than Buck Williams's 27 rebounds in a four-overtime game on Feb. 1, 1987.

''I had fresh legs,'' Feick said, laughing. ''I said that jokingly, but to be honest, I really did have fresh legs. I felt a little quicker than usual.''

Coach Don Casey, who said he had used Feick sparingly against the Knicks because Jim McIlvaine was playing so well, admitted that the nature of the victory was satisfying. But he scoffed when asked if in hindsight it was better that his team surrendered its big lead.

''What, do you think we wanted to sit on the bench like that for the fourth time in a row?'' he said. ''Are you crazy?''

Marbury said: ''We shouldn't have lost the lead like that. But we won, and that's the important thing.''

REBOUNDS

Coach DON CASEY of the Nets said GHEORGHE MURESAN, who had surgery for tears found in his lateral and medial meniscus in his left knee on Dec. 14, had been cleared to practice but must avoid contact. Casey estimated that Muresan would start scrimmaging in 7-10 days. . . . SHERMAN DOUGLAS, who has been on the Nets' injured list since Dec. 28 with a severe left ankle sprain, will undergo surgery. Casey said he will be out three to six months.

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A version of this article appears in print on January 21, 2000, on Page D00003 of the National edition with the headline: PRO BASKETBALL; Marbury And Feick Help Win Nail-Biter. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe